Google Maps is introducing new tools to help you park your car. As anyone who lives in, or commutes into, a city, knows, parking can be a stressful endeavor. And if you’re driving into somewhere you’re not familiar with, you may not even be aware how difficult it is to find a parking space.

Google Maps Helps Drivers Find Parking Spaces

The first tool in Google Maps’ arsenal of weaponry for drivers deals with parking difficulty. Google originally launched this in the U.S. in January. And it covers the following 25 metropolitan areas: Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, DC, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, San Diego, Sacramento, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, and Tampa.

To check the difficulty you’ll have parking in these locations simply get directions to your destination, then look for the parking difficulty icon at the bottom of the screen. The parking difficulty of each location is based on historical data, plus some of Google’s magic machine learning. This feature is available on Google Maps for iOS and Android.

The second tool actually helps you find parking near your destination. In the same U.S. cities as listed above, you can now tap “find parking” on the directions card. This will display a list of parking garages and parking lots close to where you informed Google Maps you want to finish your journey.

When you find the parking option you think best suits your needs, simply tap on it, and its location will be added to your journey. Google Maps will even provide walking directions from your parking space of choice to your final destination. So, Google really has thought of every eventuality here. This feature is only available on Google Maps for Android for the time being.

Do you ever have trouble finding a parking space? Either in a city you visit often? Or a destination you’re not familiar with? What do you think of Google Maps’ new tools to help you park? Are you likely to make use of them? Please let us know in the comments below!